Strategy Analytics said the global mobile phone market grew “a modest 1 percent” in the second quarter of 2012, reaching 362 million units shipped, compared with 358 million in the prior-year period. The tiny growth rate compares with 11.9 percent shipment growth in Q2 2011.

The smartphone sector saw a more robust quarter, with shipment volumes increasing 32 percent annually to contribute 146 million of the total – although it was noted that this still marked “the smartphone industry’s slowest growth rate for almost three years,” with growth slowing from 77.1 percent a year ago.

Strategy Analytics named Samsung as “star performer” overall during the quarter, securing a record 26 percent market share (93 million units) to give it the number one handset vendor spot. Former number one Nokia saw its shipment volumes decreasing by 5 percent to 83.7 million units, giving it a 23 percent market share and number-two spot.

Alex Spektor, associate director at Strategy Analytics, said: “Ongoing macroeconomic challenges in mature markets like North America and Western Europe, tighter operator upgrade policies, and shifting consumer tastes were among the key reasons why global mobile phone shipments grew just 1 percent annually.”

Apple was ranked the world's third-largest handset vendor with a 7.2 percent market share (up from 5.7 percent a year ago) while fourth-placed Chinese vendor ZTE captured just a 4.6 percent market share, as shipment volumes slipped by 16 percent annually to 16.5 million units. With this company having set its sights on a top-three position in the market, it will need to address “weakened demand in major markets of Western Europe and China”.

Former number-three player LG saw its shipments “nearly halve” year-on-year to 13.1 million units, as its feature phone volumes continued to slide. Its market share decreased to 3.6 percent from 6.9 percent in Q2 2011, putting it in the number five position.

In the smartphone market, Samsung and Apple made up more than half of the volumes, jointly accounting for just over 52 percent of the market.

Neil Mawston, executive director of Strategy Analytics, observed: “Samsung shipped 50.5 million smartphones worldwide and captured a record 35 percent market share in the second quarter of 2012. This was the largest number of units ever shipped by a smartphone vendor in a single quarter.”

In contrast, Apple grew more slowly than the market, which was attributed to customers and operators holding back ahead of the anticipated iPhone 5 launch later this year.